(MY) guard dog slashed

[Guest guest]

MM Focus: Who's the animal now ? Malay Mail

 

CRUELTY to animals can lead to cruelty to humans.

 

American researchers have discovered that if a person could

inflict

harm onto an animal, they are capable of doing the same to

their

fellow kind, says Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of

Animals

(SPCA) vice chairman Christine Chin.

 

She was commenting on yesterday's report on a German Shepherd

guard dog that fought off five robbers, armed with parangs and

iron

rods, after they broke into a textile factory in Johor Baru.

 

It had to be put to sleep due to the deep slash wounds on its

head

and face.

 

Chin said society has to arrest people who harm animals.

 

" In the US, action is taken when a person is found hurting

animals. It

is like a precaution so that the person does not hurt another

human

being. " She said if a child harms another living creature, he

may grow

up having a disregard for life.

 

" One guard dog is not enough to ward of five or six armed

robbers.

 

" Some people think having one guard dog would solve the

problem of

robberies. But robbers go in packs, and having just one dog

would

not help. " She said having a guard dog gives people a false

sense of

security.

 

" If you do have a guard dog, keep it in an enclosure, so it

won't be

attacked.

 

" If anything is amiss, it would be alerted and sound the

alarm. But if

it is let loose, it would definitely fight for us and would

die fighting. "

The gruesome picture of the dog, slashed beyond recognition,

on the

cover of The Malay Mail yesterday outraged many readers.

 

One of them, Valentine Siva of Taman Tun Dr Ismail, said the

report

upset his family.

 

" There are no words to describe how I feel. How can people be

so

cruel and inhuman? " He said if a human being can do that to an

animal, he could do that to another person.

 

He said these culprits should be brought to justice.

 

The five-year-old guard dog, Chivas, sustained at least six

deep

slash wounds - one in the back, another on the forehead and

four on

the muzzle, causing its face to split into two.

 

Police are reviewing a tape from a security camera installed

at the

main entrance of the factory which had recorded the robbery.